The Art of Growing Up
by AllBarkPlusBite
Summary: Meg's never been anyone's favorite, in fact some would call her abused, but she seems to accept that. But after watching a movie about abuse opens her eyes, Meg decides maybe it's time to make a change...time to grow up. Rated T for safety. Some characters may be OOC.
1. Chapter 1

_flashback_

"Meg, don't you ever get tired of our world being this small?"

Meg looked up at Kevin in puzzlement. They were both lying on a couch together, just enjoying each others company. Lois wasn't home, so Kevin's attention was focused entirely on Meg.

"Kevin, what do you mean? The earth is huge! It's not small at all!"

"The earth maybe, but our world, it's tiny. Here, in Quahog, everyone...knows everyone. And whatever you do, if you make a mistake-" he sat up suddenly, and Meg rolled off the couch with a shriek.

"That's all you are in this town."

"That's great Kevin, could you help me up please?" Kevin just looked at Meg sadly, and she got up, annoyed.

"Kevin, what's-"

"Meg, I cheated on you. With your mom."

_end flashback_

Meg head jerked up suddenly, and she shrieked as her head hit her bed lamp. Meg rubbed her head, and tried to calm herself down. Tears suddenly pooled in her eyes as she remembered the dream. Meg sat on her bed, taking deep breaths until she felt composed enough to get dressed. Looking in her closet, she saw the same clothes she'd been wearing for the past..seventeen years now? She rolled her eyes, and pulled on the same pink shirt and blue jeans shed worn the day before. At least no one could make fun of her weight if she covered it up. That's what she told herself, at least. She walked downstairs and, as she say down let out a cheery, "Good morning!"

"Meg, what are you doing in the kitchen?" Said Lois sternly. Meg shifted in her chair uncomfortably. Looks like Lois was in a bad mood. Again.

"Pass the butter, fat man." Said stewie nonchalantly. He sighed when he was ignored, but gave a satisfied smirk when Brian handed it to him. He began spreading it on a biscuit as he said, "Honestly, the things I put up with, and no one says a word!" He shook his head as he focused on his biscuit. He purposely downcast his eyes when he saw peter getting up from the table. There was only one reason the fat man would get up from the table before he had eaten his fill.

"Hey Meg, come here!" Peter ran up to meg with a grin on his face.

Meg knew what was coming, and plugged her nose just as the fart came.

"Hehehehehehheheehe.."

Meg sighed. "Morning dad."

"Shut up Meg."

"Screw you."

Meg clapped her hand per her mouth when she realized what she'd said. Still, she was shocked when the slap came out of nowhere. "Aah! Mom what the-"

"Not today Meg, mommies tired." Lois then sat down and started eating.

"Oh, so is this something Lois is just going to be doing?"

Commented Stewie passively. He shrugged to himself, he'd come to accept it for the most part.

No one looked up as Meg left the table.

And went back to her room and cried. A lot.

"Kevin was wrong." She managed to sob. "I can barely handle my small world as it is. I'm just a wea-weakling." She kept crying. "IM ALWAYS CRYING! WHY AM I ALWAYS CRYING-oh I'm on my period. Crap."

The rest of the day went as expected for Meg. School, bullied, lunch, home, bullied, home, shut up Meg, a fart from peter, bed.

But Meg didn't want to go to sleep right away. She waited until the rest of the house was asleep before getting up to take a shower. Remembering the dream from the previous night, she wasn't looking forward to sleep. Meg was used to it, though. Whatever hurt her came back at night. Today had been, all things considered, a good day, but that usually meant another horrible dream. Meg sighed, squatting down and putting her head on her knees. She felt the shower water get colder as she thought over the dreams. All the things that happened to her never felt so horrible as they did in a dream. When she found out Kevin was cheating on her, it made her upset, of course, but it didn't make her scared and frightened and panicked, like she felt this morning. When it'd actually happened, it felt..surreal. Theatrical, almost. Like she was acting, doing the expected lines, playing the excepted part of the scapegoat. But nothing felt more real then when she remembered it later.

Meg shook her head. "I'm getting too upset about this. It's what everyone goes through, right?" She finished her shower, trying to keep herself from thinking about anything for a while. Meg grimaced as she looked at herself in the mirror, but quickly covered herself with an old t-shirt and sweats and walked downstairs, sitting in the family couch as she turned on the T.V. to distract herself.

Absentmindedly flipping through the channels, she stopped when she saw a mom beating her daughter. Meg watched skeptically as the girl cringed and screamed. "Humph, I've dealt with worse." This made her feel a little better...in a bad way. but her her short lived feeling of toughness turned to numbed disbelief as the movie went on.

The girl eventually got fed up with the abuse and called the cops. "She cant do that!" Meg gasped, shocked. calling the cops... You couldn't just do that, right?

What resulted was a bitter court case where the girl had to testify against her mother who lied constantly about what happened. Meg watched spellbound as outside the courtroom the mother grabbed at the girl, panicky, almost screaming that she needed her daughter. "

For what?!" The girl yelled. "To be your crutch? To make you feel better? I've been that for years, and have things gotten better for anyone? I've only just realized I actually have a right to a good life in the world."

"You can't handle the world!" The mother hissed back, gripping her daughters arm. "You're a weakling! You'd last ten seconds before you'd be dead in a ditch and I'd come and save your lazy weak butt! What do you have? NOTHING! Your nothing but a weakling, a pitiful waste, you don't deserve what you have now and someone should have gotten rid of you long ago! Weakling, weak, stupid child! It's your fault things are like this for you, and you don't have the RIGHT to change ANYTHING!"

Mets eyes widened. Every word the mother said sounded like everything Meg had been told her entire life.

The mothers harsh face curled into a smug smile as she said, "Besides, you think the judge will help you? No one will believe you! No one does, no one ever has, and no one here EVER WILL."

Meg switched off the T.V. and put her head in her hands. She tried not to think, tried to bring back the balance in her head she had in her head, the feeling that everything was normal, but it kept slipping away. Things weren't normal. A voice that sounded like her mothers seemed to chant in the back of her mind, saying things she feared were true.

Meg began sobbing. even though it was the middle of the night she knew it wouldn't wake anyone up. at least, they would pretend not to hear. Meg gave a little smirk though her tears, she could get away with anything. Screaming, insulting, whatever...they were more likely to be mean or hit her when she DIDNT do anything.

Meg put her head on her knees again, rocking back and forward on her heels. She sighed as she felt the fat of her stomach bulge up uncomfortably. She hadn't always been this...pudgy. She had actually had an alright body at fifteen, but the past two years shed gotten fatter and fatter. Lois wouldn't take her to get a learners permit, she would never pay for a car, so meg had no way to get to a job. No job, no money. If she had money maybe she could get things for herself, things that might make everyone treat her better, like a gym membership, or better clothes, or even -meg grimaced- a therapist. Meg had thought about plastic surgery in the past, but that was not going to fix anything. She remembered the one time her grandma had payed for her liposuction. It was painful, and made her look almost worse. And the effects had worn off! Besides, no one treated her any different, except for laughing about how shallow she was behind her back. Meg pulled her arms tighter around her, looking different wouldn't make everything go away, and she couldn't afford it anyway.

"That movie was full of bull." Meg said angrily.

She couldn't call the police like the girl in the movie. Joe was one of peters friends, and he would be sure to keep peter out of trouble. And besides, it was a small town, just about every cop already knew about how she was treated, and they didn't care.

They didn't care she was being abused.

Meg was shocked at the sudden feeling of relief. She had told herself the secret. Meg snorted as that thought crossed her mind, who else would she tell? Who else would care, really? And even though thinking and wishing wouldn't change anything...it felt good to finally admit it to herself. But that couldn't make the pain go away.

Meg stood up, slowly, and walked, almost trembling, to the window, and looked up at the stars, attempting to forget what was below them..

Meg wiped her eyes, ignoring the sticky streaks the tears had made. If she ever wanted something better, she had to do something about it.

AUTHORS NOTE: hey y'all! So I've had this story in my head for a long time, and I've finally decided to put it in print. I've always felt sorry for meg. She represents a lot of what I still go through, and I've always wanted to see her rise up and make things better. Sadly that probably won't ever happen in the show, so heres my take on how it would go.

Constructive criticism is so welcome, this is my first real story and I need all the advice I can get.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Okay, before I story I just want to say thank you so much for the reviews! I wasn't sure if I could keep going with this story, but I saw the reviews and BAM inspiration. Okay I'll shut up now and let you read. :D

Meg opened her eyes slowly, then sat up quickly as she realized she was face deep in scratchy purple couch cushion.

"Shit, where are my glasses?" Meg hissed under her breath, rubbing her bleary eyes with one hand while perusing the couch with the other. "Aah!" Meg gave a shriek as she realized she'd cut her finger on a shard of glass. Her eyebrows narrowed in frustration as she tried to stop the bleeding with her shirt. "Either dad tried to turn the house into a bar again, or-"

"Morning Meg."

Meg looked up in surprise to see Brian standing by the couch looking at her oddly.

"What, Brian? I mean, good morning-"

"Meg, are you alright?" Meg looked at Brian in confusion, then gave a quick smile as she realized why he was acting concerned. "No Brian, I just cut my finger on some glass. On accident!" Meg added. Brian raised an eyebrow, than gave a quick scoff and said, "no offense Meg, it seems like the kind of thing you'd do."

He began to turn and walk towards the kitchen where Lois was starting breakfast.

"Brian, wait." Meg began to walk towards Brian, but tripped. Over Peter. On the floor.

"What the-" Meg looked at Peter incredulously, who merely giggled and slurred, "no, I don' got no bananas, officer..."

Meg quickly hopped up and ran into the kitchen, where Brian was fixing himself a dry martini.

"Brian, I'm serious, I really need to-to talk to you. Please?"

Brian looked up slowly, expecting Meg just wanted a new Prada bag or some other such nonsense, when he was surprised by the intense but terrified look in Meg's eyes.

He looked down into his glass, then said, "alright Meg, what is it?"

Meg's eyes lit up in relief and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes Meg, what is it?" Lois looked over at Meg sternly, who shut her mouth with a snap. "You don't want more stupid liposuction? Oh, that made you look like a whore. Still, appearances aren't always deceiving." Lois dried her hands and stepped away from the sink where she had finished rinsing a few dishes out of the giant stack that was left. "Finish it."

Brian looked at Meg, a little uncomfortably. He knew everyone wasn't always...nice to Meg, even he had joined in once...or more. But Meg, she did things to deserve it, right? He could remember her whining and lying to get things she wanted, stupid things like expensive clothes or that damn Prada bag. Brian sighed, rubbing his forehead with two of his fingers. "I'll talk to you later Meg." He swirled his martini glass, then walked away.

"Brian, please, this is important-" Meg started to call out to Brian, when she was suddenly grabbed roughly by the shoulders, spun around, and pushed backwards towards the counter. Meg shrieked as the hard edge of the counter pushed into the small of her back, but the pressure didn't stop.

"Young lady, you've got chores to do! We've got Joe and Bonnie coming over for dinner, and these dishes better be done before breakfast, I don't want to see you gossiping to Brian and pretending you didn't hear me!"

"Mom, I was going to! Let go, you're hurting me!"

The pressure ceased, but Lois sneered. "Not so tough, are you jailbird?"

Meg's face got red as she remembered that situation.

Lois jerked her head towards the sink. "Get it done."

"Yes ma'am." Meg said meekly. Her eyes were stinging, but she turned her face from Lois, letting out a sigh of relief as Lois left the room. As soon as she did though, she immediately felt angry with herself. "How could I let her get to me so easily?!" Meg hissed under her breath, pretending the hot tears splashing down her face weren't there. She reached up to push her glasses back up her nose, when she remembered they were broken. "Crap. Where am I going to get new glasses?" Lois kept her contacts, since they were "expensive" and Meg could "break them." Which was bull, Lois just liked punishing her.

Meg paused her scrubbing, leaning on her arms propped on the edge of the sink. What was she going to do? She thought she could talk it out with Brian, but he seemed determined not to talk to her. And what were her plans beyond that? Meg covered her face with one hand, sighing heavily. Talking might help her emotionally, a little. But every moment here, in quahog, around these people, even strangers treated her the way her parents did. They all knew how they were supposed to treat her.

Suddenly it all became clear.

Meg had to leave quahog.

"No. Absolutely not."

Meg looked at Brian in frustration, then said skeptically, "Don't tell me, you'd miss me?"

They were in the Griffins basement. It was dark but private. Meg knew this was where Brian kept his liquor, and when she couldn't find him anywhere else in the house she knew this was the only place he'd be.

"Don't get smart with me Meg. Look, I know you don't...love it here, but it's a hundred times more terrible out there, in the real world. Besides, you're not treated that badly, considering the hell you put everyone through."

"What's that supposed to mean? I haven't done anything except try to be a normal teenage girl. Isn't that why being a teenage girl all about?"

Brian raised an eyebrow, took a sip of his martini, and said, "frankly, Meg, you were a bitch. You put your family on national television and embarrassed them in front of thousands of people because you didn't want to be embarrassed. You were selfish and manipulative. And you did thousands more things to get attention or gratify some animal pleasure. It's disgusting."

Meg downcast her eyes. "I know I wasn't a good person when I was fifteen. I don't even like me then. Or now! But does that mean I should get the shit taken out of me every day becuase I was a spoiled kid who didn't know any better? I am living in a dysfunctional household. I was already gonna have problems. I was a needy, stupid teenage girl. And now I'm abused and fat and living in hell because of it!"

Meg's eyes flooded with tears, but she wiped them away impatiently.

"This is my point. If I leave, well, I'm not anywhere to remind anyone that our family can't handle needy people, and everyone can just forget about me. Stop wasting energy on abusing me. And I can maybe forget I ever lived here."

"Meg, you're not being abused-"

Meg turned around and lifted up the back of her shirt showing where the counter edge had bruised her.

Brian's eyes widened.

"Okay, you need help."

Meg rolled her eyes as she pulled her shirt back down.

She took a deep breath before saying quickly, "Brian, I want to go to New York."

"Okay, I take it back, you really do need help."

"Brian!"

"Look, Meg, it really is dangerous there-"

"Then I'll lose a few pounds running for my life. No one from quahog will ever be able to find me there, and I'll get a job easily. It's a much easier place to make a new start than another suburban small town. One where...everyone remembers your mistakes."

Meg blinked quickly a few times. She could see the truth of a few of Kevin's words. Then again he cheated in her, with Lois, so why should she care?

"Then I'm coming with you."

Meg gave a little half-smile, but said, "no Brian. If mom and dad notice I've gone, (which they might not for a while, thank goodness) then you'd get in trouble. All I need is for you to cover for me. Make a fake Meg doll out of soap, that's probably be enough to fool them long enough."

Brian still looked unconvinced.

"Brian, please. I can't stay here. If I do I might as well be dead in a ditch in New York somewhere. At least out there I know I've got a fighting chance." Meg looked at Brian, begging.

Brian could see the desperation in her eyes. He sighed, rubbing his fingers on his forehead slowly. He'd always made himself believe the way everyone treated Meg was because she truly deserved it. But she really didn't. No one did. At least no little girl who had just wanted what every teenage girl had wanted, popularity, clothes, sure, but really happiness, fun, love. She was more naive and innocent than any of them were, really, even after years of abusing her for flaws that were mostly their fault in the first place. And now, Brian had the chance to make up for his years of idiotic silence, and standing by while someone got hurt.

Brian heaved a heaved a heavy sigh, then looked up and gave Meg a wry smile.

"Well, you're going to New York, you're going to need a lot more than a soap doll."

So, Meg wants to leave. Not a big surprise, huh? But what do you guys think? Im still not sure if she should stay, or at least stay a little longer and get a little more closure before she leaves. Tell me what you think should happen! :D also, I'm starting school tomorrow, so an update might be slow in coming, or it'll be short. One thing or another.


	3. Chapter 3

"I see."

"Stewie, would you just help me? She is your sister."

"Alright, no I don't see. What do you want? I'm working on a thesis on quantum physics, so you can tell why I don't want to be interrupted to hear about a teenage melodramatic pretty little liars esque something or other, I'm very busy."

Brian sighed.

"Meg wants to run away!"

Stewie's head popped up from underneath his trike.

"Oh. Oh I do say! Go Megan! Good lord, perhaps we truly are from the same wombs!"

Brian face palmed.

"Yes, yes, Megan hasn't been given very much credit, she can be quite diabolical! Well, then, I shall change the hit to Chris, that would make more sense, especially in mass worth..."

"Stewie, she's packing now. I need you to use you're..." Brain waggled his fingers. "Stuff to get her some things she can't get from her bedroom closet."

Stewie peered at Brian for a moment. "Why are you doing this? I'm sorry to say she is Meg, after all."

"Stewie, that's exactly why I'm helping her. We've all abided her for so long. I knew it wasn't right, but I didn't anyway. Now I'm just going to make it up to her by doing the best I can to give her a better chance."

Stewie smirked.

"Wow, you really have given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"Yeah well, I've run away before."

Stewie peered at Brian as if he was far away. "You have? Huh, I didn't notice."

"Shut up."

...

Meg looked around her room slowly. This place was no sanctuary, but it was somewhere. Meg sat on her bed, hiding a backpack in her hands. Meg gripped the backpack tighter, then to calm herself down she opened the backpack to double check everything. She had filled it with all the essentials, some decent clothes, a bunch of snacks, her wallet, hairbrush, toothpaste, toothbrush, and...okay, her stuffed dinosaur. She's only human, right? Meg closed the backpack abruptly. She was definitely nervous.

"I'm actually doing this." Suddenly Meg's insides felt like snakes. She took a deep breath and said it again.

"I'm actually DOING this."

She let out a deep sigh of relief, and said again,

"I'm ACTUALLY doing this!"

All her trepidation began to melt away. She was going to finally get to something better, or at least try. Still things were going to be...different. Much different.

Meg took a deep breath.

"So this is what breaking away feels like. I like it."

She gave herself a small smile, the zipped up her blackest hoodie over her normal pink shirt and walked towards the door, when she suddenly heard two loud knocks.

She immediately dove under her bed.

Brian opened the door and said, "Meg, it's just me. I've got a few things for you." He looked around the room with a bright face, then said grumpily, "come out, Meg."

Meg crawled out from under the bed sheepishly, muttering, "sorry, I thought you were Lois." Then her eyes widened as she saw what was holding.

Brian was holding a box in his hands full of many things he knew Meg would need, but first and foremost, a LOT of money. He set it down and pushed it in front of Meg.

Meg looked at him in shock. "How did you get all this?"

Brian's eyes immediately flicked towards stewies room. "A friend!" He said quickly. He knew Meg wouldn't believe him if he told her who it was really from. Meg didn't notice though as she was going through the box of stuff Brian had brought into her room.

First, on top of the pile was money, lots of it, about two grand. Also an iPhone. "That has fully paid unlimited internet access, calls, and it's completely untrackable." Brian pointed out excitedly.

Meg looked at the phone for a minute, sliding a finger down the smooth touchscreen. She had always wanted her own phone. Obviously Lois would never get her one, but now she had the best phone she could ever imagine.

Brian looked at Meg, a little concerned since she was staring at the phone lovingly. "Um, Meg?"

"I love it! Oh my gosh, Brian, thank you and thank your friend, and...AAAh!" Meg gave a little shriek as she danced around the room in excitement. Brian smiled. He'd never seen Meg this genuinely happy. However he said quickly, "come on Meg, there's more."

He handed her several boxes of contacts. "No one will recognize you without your glasses." Brian pulled out some new clothes, different then Meg's normal style, dark black jeans, a blue t-shirt with an interesting design, and white dress shirt. "Or your pink shirt." He laid them down next to the box as he kept going. "Heres a chain wallet, really the most effective way to stop a pickpocket, plenty of those in New York. And this, Meg, this is the most important thing in the whole box." Meg looked at Brian eagerly as he pulled out a small, black- "is that a calculator?" Meg said skeptically. Brian shook his head, excited. "No, Meg, this is your savior. This-" he looked at Meg skeptically- "calculator will be able to change your universal profile. Your name, family, work record, everything, or completely wipe it off the map. For instance, this-" Brian pressed a small red button. "Just deleted all social media for Meg Griffin." Meg looked shocked for a minute, then gave a little grin. "Perfect." Brian grinned, and then clicked a few buttons. "Alright Meg, what's your name?"

Meg thought for a moment. She didn't want to change everything. But she wanted to change most of it. Meg ran through her favorite names in her head, then smiled as it came to her. "Megan Erika Turner." Brian nodded appreciatively. "Meg shrugged. "I've always likes those names."

Brian typed it in.

"you're parents were your only living relatives, and they died a year ago of old age." He said as he typed furiously. "You went to Georgia High School and got all A's, you volunteered at pet shelters and nursing homes, and you have a drivers license." Meg shook her head emphatically. "Brian, no! I don't know how to drive!" Brian just smiled and patted Meg on the shoulder as he said, "Meg, Meg, I'll teach you tomorrow. That's when your ID and license will come in anyway. Oh, by the way Meg, your eighteen years old." Brian looked down at the little device, obviously satisfied by his work.

Meg gave a little lopsided grin. "So I can drink now?"

"Don't you dare. Now go get ready." Brian smiled affectionately. "Time you had something nice to where for a change."

Meg started to gather up the contact and clothes, when she ran over to Brian and hugged him.

"Thank you, Brian. Thank you."

Brian stiffened. But then relaxed. Meg actually gave good hugs. He gave a little chuckle and hugged her back. "You deserve it, Meg."

Meg looked at him with a smile. "Megan."

Brian scoffed. "Go get dressed, Megan." He gave her a good natured push, and sat down on her bed while he waited for her to change.

Megan put on the clothes Brian gave her, and her black hoodie. Then her contacts. They felt weird, but when Megan looked in the mirror, she gave a small gasp. She wasn't suddenly beautiful, but her nose didn't look so big, and her lips looked more defined... It was definitely an improvement. Sure she was pudgy, but that didn't matter. Still, something didn't look quite right. She shrugged and walked out anyway.

"How do I look?"

Brian turned his head, and then moved his head as if to get a better look.

"Megan, wow. You look great. But there's one thing wrong."

"What?"

Brian reached up and grabbed Megan's old pink hat. He held it in front of her, and looked up at her expectantly.

Megan looked at it for a minute. She took a deep breath. "A fresh start." Megan picked it up, and threw it out the window.

Elsewhere-

Quagmire looked up just in time to see a dirty pink hat land on his face. He held it in his hands for a minute, then smelled it. "Giggity!"


	4. Chapter 4

It was late.

Brian had bought a one-way ticket to New York, and it left at one in the morning. Brian thought,

and Megan agreed, that it would be best to leave at night. While Megan knew her family hated her for the most part, Lois wouldn't let her leave. If she did, that would be acknowledging the issue. Accepting, agreeing with Megan she was being mistreated. That would never happen.

Megan had her head in a pillow, backpack on the bed next to her. Truth was, she wasn't used to going without a hat. After receiving numerous head injuries from Peter, she'd decided to cover it up, or at least protect her head with the "stylish" pink hat. This was the longest she ever went without one, and her head felt tender, which was worrying. "Probably just the stress." Megan said quietly to herself. She jumped when she heard a quick knock on the door, and let out a deep breath when Brian walked in.

Brian looked concerned. "You alright...Megan?"

Megan sat up and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Yeah, I'll just be glad to be out of here." She looked at the clock, then hoisted the backpack and jumped off the bed. Her face was bright with excitement. "Is it time?"

Brian smiled. "Yep."

Megan gave a girlish squeal. This was going to be awesome, she knew it.

Megan sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen. As Brian went to start his car Megan opened the fridge.

"I'll be right there, I'm just gonna grab a sandwich.."

Suddenly the fridge door was closed violently. Megan barely had time to snatch her hand out before it slammed shut. Behind it stood Lois.

She looked venomous.

Megan knew what would happen if she let Lois control the conversation. She would e frightened into staying. Megan's heart gave a little twitch. She knew she wasn't strong enough to resist that quite yet.

"Mom, I'm leav-"

Lois slapped her. Hard.

Megan fell back. All the objects in her backpack pushed into her back as she hit the floor.

She felt the sting. Red hot.

"How dare you!" Lois spat.

She grabbed Megan by the shirt and yanked her up.

"Where'd you get those clothes, princess?"

She pushed Megan down onto the floor again.

"And where do you think you're going!?"

Lois looked down at Megan in disdain. "You owe me an apology, young lady. Look what you've put me through. I know you want to leave." Lois laughed, then crouched down next to Megan and said, as if she were speaking to a child, "You've got a debt to pay, sweetie. Good thing for you, you'll always be mommies little girl. What else could you handle, really?"

Megan looked at Lois, who sneered back.

Megan's face hardened. "I've got news for you, mommy."

Lois gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "What, Meg."

Megan gave a crazy sort of grin.

"I'm eighteen."

Then before Lois could react, Megan tore her backpack off her back and swung it right into Lois' face.

Then, as fast as she could manage she scrambled up and ran out to the garage.

As she opened the door she bumped into Peter, who was standing facing the kitchen open mouthed, beer dripping out of a bottle in his hand.

He looked at Megan, dumbfounded.

"Me-, you...and...she...fridge.."

Megan grinned affectionately.

"Shut up, dad."

Then she ran to the car as fast as she could without hurting herself.

"Brian, let's go!" Megan almost shrieked.

Brian stepped on the gas, and just like that...they were gone.

...

Megan leaned back in her seat and let out a long breath.

Brian glanced at her for a moment, then spoke.

"That...was impressive."

Megan closed her eyes, smiling. "So worth it. Even with the-" she stroked the fresh welt on her cheek softly. "Consequences." Megan squinted in pain as her fingers went over a raised scratch. "Dang, she broke skin." Megan brushed her hair over it subtly. This was...fine. She was a legal adult. No reason anyone would question her about the scratch.

"Oh, Megan, almost forgot to give you these." Without taking his eyes off the road Brian reached into his jacket pocket and handed her two laminated cards, her drivers license and ID.

"You're going to need those in New York. Just remember, practice driving somewhere where no one else is. That way no one dies. I really didn't get to teach you all that much yesterday."

Megan took the cards with wonder, and slid them into her wallet as if they were made of glass, nodding numbly at Brian. She let out a loud breath.

She was free.

...

"Flight 248."

"Change! I need change!"

"Pretzels! Yummy pretzels!"

"Oh for goodness sake, Mildred, on the floor..."

Megan stood frozen in the middle of the busy airport. Even though Brian was right next to her she felt alone and scared.

Brian grabbed Megan's hand and looked her in the eyes. "Megan, it's...all...going...to... be...okay." Megan swallowed and nodded.

Still, she wasn't sure she believed him.

...

The time leading up to the flight went by easily. There were bookstores and little food shops, and Megan was glad it she had time to relax before boarding time. The last time she had been on a plane, somehow Peter was the captain, and that had been terrifying.

She was currently sitting on a little chair by the boarding area, waiting for the flight attendant to say they could board. She was surprised at how calm she felt; Brian was freaking out.

"Now when you get to New York I wan you to text me immediately first find an apartment and then get a job and call me at least once a week and don't talk to strangers or eat yellow snow and-"

"I got it Brian, I got it!" Megan laughed. Somehow knowing that Brian cared enough to be worried for her made her feel very happy. She leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling with eyes half closed.

All the noise began to fade away...

"MEG GRIFFIN!"

Megan's eyes snapped open. "Oh no!" She immediately grabbed her backpack and hugged it. "Brian, it's all over, she's found me, it's all over..." Megan's eyes began to burn.

Brian looked over towards the voice. It was Lois. She hadn't seen Megan yet, and was busy pushing people aside in the thick crowd. "There's still time..." Brian said under his breath. He looked back at Megan. She was falling apart. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Megan, pull yourself together!" He hissed under his breath. Megan looked at him with wide, scared eyes. "Brian, she's coming for me!"

Suddenly they heard the flight attendants high pitched voice on loudspeaker, "Boarding flight 157, boarding flight 157..."

Megan looked up, suddenly in shock. Behind her she heard Lois screaming, "I SEE YOU MEG GRIFFIN! I SEE YOU!" She was winding her way towards Megan with fire in her eyes.

Megan didn't move. Glancing back at the flight attendant, she could move.

Back or forward. The life she knew and hated, or the unknown.

"That woman has drugs!" Brian barked out. Lois was immediately mobbed by police.

Brian turned Megan to face him.

"That'll buy you some time. Megan, this is your chance. Go."

Megan looked at Brian with terror in her eyes. "Brian, what about you? She knows you were helping me!"

Brian made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Peter is a doof, but he's my best friend. He won't let anything happen to me." He looked Megan in the eyes. "It's you who's in danger."

Megan looked at the boarding area. And she knew what she had to do.

She hugged Brian. "Thank you for everything. Goodbye, Brian!"

"Goodbye, Megan."

Brian hugged her tighter for a moment, then let her go. Suddenly they both heard Lois scream, "THATS MY DAUGHTER!"

They both glanced at each other for a quick moment, then they both started running.

Megan ran up to the desk.

"Here are my tickets, this bag fits carry on, plane is this way, bye!"

She said all this in one breath and ran up the shaky metal walkway to the plane. A flight attendant ran up to her, looking cross.

"Your seat is over here, ma'am." She said, obviously annoyed at Megan's misuse of protocol, as she led Megan to her seat.

Once she was sitting in her seat, Megan leaned it back as far as it would go.

Here we go, she thought to herself.

Here I go.


	5. Chapter 5

Well, this is embarrassing.

Megan leaned back in the airplane seat, reclining slowly. The plane wasn't going to be leaving for at least another half hour, and according to the flight attendant, it was because of a "strange woman who said her kid is on here." Megan slumped lower in her seat and covered her eyes with her hand. She felt like she was still riding the thrill from defying her mother and getting on the plane, but now that just made her feel antsy.

While she waited, she decided now would be a good time to open that phone Brian gave her. She looked at it, then turned it over. She had no idea how to turn it on. She began pressing random buttons. The screen lit up suddenly. Megan have a quick childlike smile, and "slid to open." The phone didn't have anything on it, so Megan had fun for awhile downloading apps, changing her background... It occupied her for a good forty minutes. She was just starting to enjoy Netflix, when suddenly the plane door opened and immediately Megan heard the familiar screeching that had been ringing in her ears as long as she could remember.

"That's her! That's my stupid brat! She's right there!"

Megan looked behind her, along with everyone else, craning tier necks to see who was making all the commotion. "There she is..." Megan mumbled to herself as she slumped lower, folding into herself and trying to stifle the feeling of growing panic as Lois drew nearer.

Lois looked crazed, with her usually platonic, housewife demeanor completely overturned. Her eyes lit up in rage as she saw Megan. "This is the girl, gentleman!" She said in a high pitched, squeaky voice, nodding to the skeptical officer next to her. The officer, with one eye squinted as if in worry, said to Megan, "young lady, do you recognize this...woman?"

Megan, without missing a beat, replied, "sir, I've never seen this woman in my life." Although her voice was steady, her eyes were wide, and she was getting more scared by the minute.

The officer, without a change of emotion, immediately turned around with a "yup." Lois looked at the officer in contempt, planting her feet in the ground as she said angrily, "Check her ID, it will tell you she is my daughter, and her name is Megatron Griffin." The officer, obviously annoyed, looked at Megan and gave a quick smile. "Ma'am, if I could see your ID?" "Uh, yeah." Megan kept an even voice as she handed him the card. As he looked it over, Lois looked at Megan with glee, hissing, "you made a big mistake, running away from me.." She smiled evilly. "She not your daughter. Time to go lady." The officer handed Megan's ID back as he said quietly, "I'll make sure she gets...help." As he steered Lois away she suddenly seemed to realize what happened, and started clawing him, shrieking, "Why would you believe that brat over her mother!? Don't you get it? IM IN CHARGE! I AM! She's mine!" Lois leapt over the officer who was, with difficulty, requesting backup, and began reaching towards Megan with sharp nails outstretched. Megan shrieked and covered her head. The officer immediately yanked Lois back and pinned her against the armrest of the seat across the aisle. He looked at Megan and said quickly, "ma'am, we have restrained your assailant, remain calm and everything will be fine." He gave Megan a quick nod and a short smile. Then he said tersely into his walkie talkie, "yeah, really requesting that backup."

Authors Note: hey guys! FINALLY got a chapter up, sorry it's so short. School hasn't been going well...life hasn't been going well, the usual. Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Mine was wet and cold, but pretty fantastic. :) also, just wanted to say, to all of you who are reading, please comment. Even if you don't have an account your comments still go through, and a lot more people have been reading then commenting. You don't have to come up with some amazing thing to write down, every time I read a comment it's even better than my favorite fics getting updated, every little comment is as good as a chapter to me. But even if you don't comment, thank you for reading this little dramatic fic. Happy Halloween!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys! Got a longer chapter then the last one to make up for taking such a long time. I think y'all will enjoy this one. ;)

...

The soft blush of the early morning sunrise peeked over the wisps of clouds drifting aimlessly on the light breeze.

The blush deepened into a husky gold as if baking the sky.

A small bird fluttered his way through this majesty,

when suddenly-SMACK.

And suddenly all he could see was the drooling face of a pudgy teenage girl pressed against the glass of a large airplane.

Megan jerked awake and let out a shriek when the first thing she saw was a bird flapping against the glass. Just as she peered closer, the bird flopped it's way off.

"Okay..." Megan shook her head, and put her cool hand on her forehead where it had been pressed against the glass for who knows how long.

After Lois had been removed from the plane, (by lots of backup) Megan had shakily requested some therapeutic chips and hid herself in her hoodie, curled up in her seat where all she could see was the airplane window. Although Megan didn't feel as if someone was about to hit her every freaking minute, she felt scared.

What had she gotten herself into? This was a very big deal. A very big deal.

Megan, leaning against the vinyl airplane seat, carefully rubbed her fingertips on the sides of her head, she couldn't think clearly right now. Too many intense emotions.

"Hey, what's the matter with you? Something wrong with your earlobe?"

"What?" Megan said incredulously. She looked to her left. Sitting next to her was a short, thin boy who must have boarded the plane while she was sleeping. He had small square glasses, a dimpled chin, and spiky reddish hair. "Oh, wait, I mean frontal lobe. Makes a lot more sense." He pushed up his glasses with two fingers, and stuck out his hand. "My names Steve, Steve Smith. My parents call me Steve." He held out his hand with his mouth open in an eager grin.

Megan tentatively reached out and shook his hand, although to make up for this friendliness she kept her face dark.

"And you are?" He said coaxingly.

"Meg..in. Uh, Megan." Megan blushed with embarrassment as she tripped over her name. She decided she was going to ask the next few questions, maybe then he would talk about himself and leave her alone.

"Why are you flying to New York?" She said quickly, before he opened his mouth again.

"Eh, the family wants a vacation." He said, assuming an air of nonchalance and leaning back in his seat. "And it's all thanks to me we're going to New York!" He said, pointing a finger at himself.

Megan thought she saw a dark haired girl behind them mutter, "idiot."

Steve whispered to her, "Witness protection. You don't wanna know."

Steve sat up and looked at Meg pointedly. "Soooo, whatcha doing in New York?"

"Uh, well, I'm gonna live there."

"Mm-hm?" Steve puts his head on his hands and was obviously begging for more information.

Megan rolled her eyes. This boy obviously wasn't going to leave her alone. She might as well tell him just a little of her story.

"I'm kind of running away."

Steve's eyes widened, and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Now the gloves come off!"

...

"Oh, Lord."

Megan muttered this to herself quietly. She definitely had told the kid more of her story than she intended. She didn't tell him anything too private (illegal), just a rough outline. And yet, even then it felt nice, relaxing even, to let some of it out. Some of it.

Steve was counting on his fingers.

"So your dad was abusive, your mom was abusive, your brother laughed at it, your dog took part of it, and you had no fashion sense?" He shook his head, tutting. "Well, good for you girlfriend!"

"Look, can we just talk about something else? Every little sentence was a stab in the butt, thanks." Megan said in annoyance.

Steve laughed. "That's my kinda humor!"

Megan have a quick little grin, and then tried to assume an air of seriousness again. "Hey, I have no idea what to use this thing for." She waved her iphone at him. "What do you suggest?"

...

They spent the rest of the flight kidding around, laughing about stupid apps and the weird guy in front of them who changed wigs at least four times.

Somehow, Megan felt like this kid was like a little brother, sort of. And it was good she got to spend her few remaining hours before really becoming an adult feeling like a kid.

Soon the flight attendants scratchy voice filled the seating area.

"We are about to land, ladies and gentlemens. So get a move on. Buckle up, hands and feet inside the vehicle-"

Megan and Steve leaped towards the window as the plane started to descend.

"Oh boy!" Steve almost squealed, his nose pressed against the glass.

From here they could already see lights, and skyscrapers pushing out from under the clouds.

Megan's stomach fluttered in excitement... and a little terror.

"BUCKLE UP!" The angry flight attendant yelled into the intercom before signing off.

Megan's ears started popping as they neared the runway, and all too soon she heard the screeching of the planes tires as they touched down.

They had to wait another forty minutes as everyone was called off according to seat number.

"See ya in the food court!" Waved Steve as he was called off.

Megan's only luggage had been safely enclosed in her arms the entire ride, so when she was called she slung her backpack onto her shoulders and quickly got off the plane.

As soon as she walked down the ramp and into the airport, her jaw dropped. The airport was huge. Everywhere she looked she saw bookstores, mini restaurants, escalators, clothing stores filled with New York memorabilia. She put her hand to her face to push up her glasses before she remembered she wore contacts now.

"Hey, you're holding up the line!"

Megan turned around and saw the annoyed flight attendant marching towards her, and ran off.

"Hey, Megan! Over here!" Steve was waving his hands energetically, sitting in a little pizzeria with what she assumed was his family.

Megan hoisted her backpack higher and strolled over.

A muscular man with black hair was balancing a Cheeto on his nose. "Francine! Lookit me!"

Megan grinned.

Steve said excitedly, "isn't this place awesome!"

"Totally." Megan laughed. This seemed like a happy family, and since she never really saw that back home, she was already feeling whatever trepidation she had melt away.

"Steve, dear, why don't you introduce us to your friend?" Said a petite blond woman who must be Francine.

...

Megan was able to talk with the family for a long time before they had to go.

"That's our ride!" Said Steve with excitement as a black limo pulled up. "It's gonna be Lady Liberty and hot dogs from now on!" He shook Megan's hand, and then just pulled it into a "bro-hug." The whole family waved as they stepped in the limo, and then they were gone.

Megan smiled happily. There was no "shut up Meg," no one thought she was ugly or stupid. She was just...her. Even though she might never see the Smiths again, she was glad she got to meet them.

She hoisted her backpack again, and went to get a hot dog.

She was gonna need the energy.

new A/N: hey guys! im afraid i wont be able to update for awhile. i wont be able to access fanfiction at all, actually. so sorry guys! i will (hopefully) be back to updating around or a little before mid-january. thanks and ill see you then.


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